Nursing bottle



Patented F eb. 29, 1944 UNITED ATEN TT' F URSING B TLE Joseph Harry Boxley, Richmond, Va. Application October 22, 194 2, Serigl No- 4 3fl99 a f (01.- 211 1111) on April 4, 1942, Serial Number 437,613, now-e10 Patent No. "2,302,935, dated November 24, 19,42;

in which application I described a bottle having on its body and near its base a projecting hollow boss forming an air inlet to the bottle, the said boss having on its side one or more-. flutes to form channels for the passage of air.

In the present application I describe a bottle having an annular boss through which air is admitted to the bottle by way of a perforation through the boss and through the wall or the bottle; but instead of fiuting the wall of the boss for the passage of air, I form a slot entirely through the wall of the boss; and I so shape this slot that no liquid can be retained in the slot after the bottle, when partly filled, has been moved from a vertical position to a horizontal position.

In the drawing:

Figure I is a partial longitudinal section of the bottle out on a plane through the center of the boss; with the air retaining closure in place.

Figure II is a partial horizontal section made on line a-b in Figure I.

Figure III is a partial longitudinal section of the bottle cut on a plane through the center of 3 the boss, with the air retaining closure lifted to admit air to the inside of the bottle; and

Figure IV is a partial horizontal section made on line c-d in Figure III. y

In Figure I the numeral l indicates the glass of the nursing bottle, which is shown laid upon its side. On the opposite side of the bottle there is formed an annular boss 2 through which passes a large vent-hole 4 into the inside of the bottle I. The bottle is shown in the position commonly used when feeding an infant; and it is obvious that if no air were allowed to enter the end of the bottle a partial vacuum would be formed in the bottle as liquid is drawn from the mouth of the bottle; and When the bottle is being used for nursing, with nipple, not shown, the vacuum Within the bottle will cause the nipple to collapse and to impede the flow of liquid from the mouth of the bottle.

The object of my invention is to provide a for the edge Id of cap Ill.

nursing bottle in which this partialvacuum may be reduced without introducing any unsanitary means; to provide a nursing bottle which may :be

.with certainty cleaned and sterilized; and which shall be inexpensive ,and durable.

- To prevent leakage, the :hollow boss 2 is closed by acap'l-Il, around the open end of which is shown "a reinforcing band l2. This :band orybead is not an essential feature :of the cap H1, as the cap .canbe effectively-used without "a bead; but the bead does undoubtedly strengthen the free edge M .of the cap. This cap I 0 may :be made of an elastic material such as rubber, or it may be made of any suitable flexible mate-rial suffi- ,ciently elastic at therfree edge or bead so ithat it may be drawn over the boss 2 until its elastic edge l4 grips the outside of the boss 2 between the end of the slot [6 and the body of the-bottle I. This slot is formed through the wall of the boss 2, and preferably on the side of the boss which is adjacent the base of the bottle. Sufficient plane surface is left between thebottom of the slot l6 and the body of the bottle, as at l8, to form a seat The slot I6 is of substantial width so that it may be easily cleaned.

An ordinary slot would beformed with parallel sides or with radial sides; but in my bottle I prefer to form the slot with inwardly flaring sides, as shown at 20, 20 in Figures II and IV, for better cleaning and drainage. For the same reason I incline the bottom 22 of the slot downward from the outside to the inside of the boss, as shown in Figures I and III. This is an important feature of the slot, as it affords perfect drainage of the slot into the bottle when the bottle is turned from a vertical position to a horizontal position. It will be observed that there can be no space or pocket between the outside wall of the boss 2 and the inside wall of the cap Iil, which pocket would be likely to retain liquid after the bottle has been turned to the horizontal position from the vertical position.

When the nurse uses the bottle in the process of feeding an infant she can hold the bottle by its base in her free hand,-the other hand being free to support the infant. Placing the base of the bottle in the palm of her hand she can reachthe cap l0 easily with the thumb and one of the fingers of the same hand. With the thumb and finger she can pinch together the bead l2 at the edge I 4 of the cap Ill, so lifting the edge M which is between the thumb and finger away from the surface of the boss at IE to form a small passage for the entrance of air to the slot [6, and so into the bottle I. Or the cap may be made With a lug 24 on its side, so that in order to lift the edge of the cap I to admit air to the slot l6 it is only necessary to seize and pull the said lug 24 with the thumb and finger of the hand holding the bottle. The ability to hold the bottle and to manipulate the cap to admit air to the bottle with the same hand is an important feature of my invention; so that the other hand is free for other purposes. The admitting of air under the edge [4 of the cap I0 is shown in Figures III and IV; wherein 26 indicates thepassage for the air. It will be seen, on referring to Figure I, that liquid running into the slot l6 when the bottle is held in a vertical position, will, when the bottle is turned to the horizontal position, drain down the sloping bottom 22 of the slotlB into the venthole 4 and into the bottle I.

It will also be seen that there is no pocket between the inside surface of cap I0 and the outer face of the boss 2 which can trap and hold liquid.

So far asthe passage of air through the slot t8 into the bottle is concerned, it is not necessary that the vent-hole 4 extend through the full length of the boss 2; for if the outer end 28 of the boss were closed with glass, air entering slot l6 from the outside would still have free passage into the bottle; but for cleaning purposes, with a brush for instance, it is desirable that the end 28 of the boss 2 be left open so that the vent-hole shall pass through the boss without constriction.

I claim:

' '1.-A nursing bottle having a boss formed on and extending from the outside of its lower portion, and with a large vent-hole through the wall of the bottle and through the length of the boss for the passage of air into the bottle and for cleaning and sterilizing operations; the said boss having a slot formed through its wall extending toward the bottle to a point intermediate the length of the boss; in combination with closing means adapted to cover the said slot and to embrace the boss elastically between the closed end of the slot and the body of the bottle to cut off air communication between the outside air and. the slot and the vent hole; and adapted to be lifted by digits of one hand at its boss-embracing edge to admit air to the slot and so to the inside of the bottle; the said boss and slot and closing means being so spaced on the body of the bottle and from its base that when the bottle is held by its base in the palm of the hand the closing means may be operated by digits of the same hand.

2. A nursing bottle as set forth in claim 1, but in which the said slot is on the side of the boss adjacent the base of the bottle.

3. A nursing bottle as set forth in claim 1, but in which the bottom of the said slot slopes downward into the vent-hole when the bottle is held in a horizontal position.

4. A nursing bottle as set forth in claim 1, but in which the sides and bottom of the said slot flare inwards into the said vent-hole.

5. A nursing bottle as set forth in claim 1, but in which the said slot is on the side of the boss adjacent the base of the bottle, and the bottom of the said slot slopes downward into the venthole when the bottle is held in a horizontal position.

JOSEPH HARRY BOXLEY. 

